No Business In Salem
by ImpliedReality
Summary: A heinous crime in a small hamlet where everybody knows each other's business; with emotions running high and old tensions rearing their head, can justice truly be served?
1. Chapter 1

Jodi hustled across the town square, struggling to carry an impressive bundle of brown paper grocery bags in her arms, making a straight diagonal line for the back gate of her yard. The sun was beginning to set already. She had meant to just quickly pick up some ingredients for dinner, but had spent far too long gossiping with Caroline. They had talked about all sorts of things – Abigail's newfound fascination with entomology, JojaMart's recent price hikes, the notion that George might finally be giving in to dementia, and even the new farmer boy, Elijah, and his _friendly_ relations with Emily next door. Jodi stopped in the middle of the plaza and admired the brilliant warm hues of the setting sun for a moment.

"Evening, dear!" Evelyn called out from across the way, offering a little wave as the old woman hobbled home from her little garden.

"Have a good night, Evie!" Jodi shouted back, trying, and failing to wave without dropping anything. Evelyn chuckled good-naturedly and continued her way.

Looking back at the horizon, Jodi basked in the twilight for a little longer. Maybe she should stop gossiping so much – she supposed it was a little mean, and immature to boot. She was supposed to be a mother after all. Then again, being a grownup wasn't exactly fun – she needed _something_ to do. Sighing at her everlasting predicament, she continued home.

The lights were all on, meaning her boys had beaten her home already. After pawing futilely at the doorknob for a moment, she gently kicked the door a few times. After waiting for a minute or two, she repeated the action with a bit more force. Just a few seconds later, the door opened, and Sam appeared. He regarded his mother with confusion before realizing what she was doing.

"Shit, sorry Mom!" He said hastily, moving to relieve her of some of her burden.

"Language." Jodi scolded him firmly, though she was incredibly thankful for the help.

He didn't respond immediately, as if he was distracted by something else entirely. "Uh, sorry." Sam apologized again, his tone uneasy. His blonde spikes bobbed uncertainly as he shifted his weight trying to balance the groceries, crossing the threshold into the house.

Jodi followed him inside, now with just half the load, and wiped her feet on the doormat. She followed her son suspiciously with her gaze as he delivered the bags to the kitchen. What was his problem tonight? Taking off her shoes, she saw the cause. Sitting in his big black armchair, her husband Kent sat hunched over, hands firmly clasped together supporting his head, elbows resting on his knees. His face was ghostly pale, and his blonde hair glistened with sweat; his eyes stared, unblinking, morosely, at the wall across the room, but seemed to look past it entirely at the same time. He was somewhere else.

Sam crossed the room again, not looing directly at his father but instead glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. He took the rest of Jodi's bags. "He's been like this for at least an hour." Sam explained quietly.

Jodi nodded slightly, looking at Kent mournfully. She remembered what the books had said about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – act like everything is normal, be supportive, let them talk when they want to and just listen.

"Hi, honey." She said, trying to keep her tone as normal as possible. Kent didn't respond. "Sorry I'm late – Caroline loves to talk, you know?"

Sam looked between his parents uncertainly. "Uh, so, uh, what's for dinner Mom?"

Jodi smiled as him; he was trying, although she knew it was difficult for him to see his father like this. It had been hard ever since he came home earlier that month. "I was thinking I'd make some fiddlehead risotto." She beamed. It was Kent's favorite – maybe that'd bring him out of it?

"Sounds great!" Sam exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically. "Want some help?"

"Sure." Jodi began walking towards the kitchen, Sam in tow. "Where's Vincent?"

"Playing at Jas's, I think." Sam answered.

Jodi grabbed some cans from a bag and began sorting them into the appropriate cabinets. "Actually," She turned back to her son. "would you mind getting your brother, Sammy? It's getting dark."

Sam glanced over his shoulder into the other room. "You sure you don't want some help?"

Jodi shook her head. "No, getting your brother will be the most helpful thing right now."

"Sure thing, then." Sam spun on his heels and beelined towards the front door. "Be back in a bit!" As he was halfway out the door, almost as an afterthought, he called back, "Save some risotto for me, dad!"

Once outside, Sam sighed heavily and shoved his hands into his pockets. It was always so awkward when his dad got like that – he felt so helpless, didn't know how to help. He was glad Vincent was so young – he was too little and stupid to understand. At least it convinced Sam to never join the army, even if they _were_ losing the war – always look at the positive stuff, right?

He loitered on the street for a bit, watching the sunset. To his left, he heard a door open.

"See you tomorrow!" A woman exclaimed.

Sam turned his head. Next door, his neighbor Emily was enthusiastically hugging a man as he left. Her blue hair flailed energetically as he spun her around. The brown jacket and almost Wehrmacht-style brown undercut were instantly recognizable – Elijah, the new farmer that moved into town last year. He bid Emily farewell as her sister screamed at her to close the door before she let another beetle in. With the door closed, Elijah walked to the street and assumed a stance almost identical to Sam's, hands in his jean pockets as he observed the sunset.

Noticing the other man, Elijah looked over at him with a shocked expression, as if he'd been caught doing something bad. He tried to change this into a smile, though Sam was unsure if it was fake or not.

"Evenin', Sam."

"Hey, Eli." Sam replied.

"How, uh, how's it hanging?" Eli awkwardly moved to lean on a nearby lamppost.

"You know, hanging." The two men continued to look at each other for a moment before Sam turned westward. "Well, I gotta go. See you around."

"Hey, I'm going that way too!" Eli suddenly perked up. "Quickest way home."

"Right." Sam wasn't quite annoyed, but he wasn't exactly pleased either.

"So, where're you headed?"

"To Marnie's ranch, to pick up Vince."

"Ah."

The two walked down the road, with no sound between them except for the clopping of their shoes on cobblestone, and soon the crunch of dirt as they left the town behind. Sam couldn't help but notice the more rapid pace of the shorter Eli's steps. The walk was short – only about fifteen minutes – but it felt longer with the awkward silence between them. Sam didn't know _why_ it was awkward, it just was. The older man and him just didn't click well, despite the age difference being only five years at most, and them actually sharing a surprising number of interests.

"So, uh, you see Weirder Stuff Season Two yet?" Sam asked, trying to spark conversation.

"I've been trying to watch an episode every night," Eli responded readily. "but I'm usually so tired I just sleep through it." He chuckled.

"Well, what episode are you on?"

"Three or four, I think."

"Damn."

"Honestly," Eli laughed at himself some more. "the scenes with the blighted crops gave me a little anxiety!"

"Really? Are you that scared of your crops failing?"

"I mean, I grow, what, parsnips and potatoes? Some beans? I'm barely living on that as is – if a blight wiped them out, I don't know what I'd do."

"I suppose." Sam mused. "Different people worry about different stuff."

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the warm orange lights of Marnie's ranch appeared up ahead; the smell of fresh manure and hay wafted towards them. The sun was almost totally gone now.

"Well, nice talking to you man." Eli bid Sam farewell as he split off, heading north towards his own farm.

Sam approached the farmhouse of the ranch, walking alongside the fenced off pasture, smiling at the numerous cows who jostled to moo at him, seemingly begging for head pats as he went by. He knocked sharply on the door three times.

A middle-aged woman opened the door. "Oh, Sam! What can I do for you?" Marnie exclaimed. The lady was always incredibly happy to have visitors, no matter the time of day.

"Hey, Miss Edgar." Sam smiled. "I'm here to get Vincent."

Marnie laughed. "Oh, the little rascal is still out playing with Jas."

"Still?" Sam asked quizzically. "It's dark."

"I told them to come back at seven. They'll probably be along any minute now."

"Did Vince have dinner, at least?"

"Yep, I fed him around 4pm. We all had some hamburgers." As if on cue, a cow bellowed ruefully from the pasture.

Sam thought about his father for a moment; Vince might be little and dumb, but he could still sense that something was wrong whenever Dad got like that. Maybe it'd be better if Vince just didn't come home tonight.

"Hey, would you mind if Vince spent the night here?" Sam asked suddenly.

Caught off guard, Marnie hesitated for a bit. "Uh, no, I suppose not. Lord knows that Jas would be delighted!"

"Thanks." Sam said, relieved.

"Can I ask why?"

Sam studied the woman's face. She probably knew exactly why, but didn't want to be rude or make assumptions. "It's our dad." He explained somberly. "He's not…feeling the best."

Marnie nodded understandingly. "Of course."

"Well, uh, thanks." Sam made to leave.

"Sam?" Marnie reached out towards the young man's shoulder, smiling warmly. "If you guys ever need _anything_ , don't hesitate to ask. The whole town's in this together."

Sam smiled back. "Thanks, Miss Edgar."

With that, Sam started home, leaving the cacophony of livestock behind.

* * *

Fierce knocking awoke Mayor Lewis Morse around 8:30 in the morning. The old man begrudgingly rolled out of bed and self-consciously patted down his grey walrus mustache as he went to the front door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" He groaned, momentarily considering quickly changing out of his pajamas before dismissing it as being too difficult. His old bones couldn't move that quick; besides, he was certain that every villager in town had beheld him in his periwinkle gown at least once already. Opening the door, he found a collection of villagers waiting, all wearing incredibly concerned expressions. Lewis immediately knew something was wrong, changing his demeanor instantly. "What's going on?"

Gus, the portly owner of the Stardrop Saloon, spoke first. Behind him, Kent leaned heavily on the mayor's mailbox, staring at him intently; Marnie's nephew, Shane, looking even more bedraggled than Lewis – and probably hungover to boot – stared off into space. "Jodi can't find her kid, Lew. The little one, Vincent."

Lewis's blood froze. "What?" He couldn't have heard him right.

"Little Vincent's missing, Lew." Gus repeated. The usually jovial barkeep was grimly serious now.

Lewis looked between the other two villagers. Kent's expression was an utter enigma. Shane's usually apathetic expression was replaced with one of stoic shock. The mayor ran his hand through his mustache, thinking.

"Well, what, how-?" He needed to approach this as delicately as possible. "When was the last time anybody saw him?"

"Marnie says he left with Jas to play in the woods outside the ranch around four yesterday afternoon."

"And?"

"Jas says he left around five or six, and she kept on playing by herself. He was supposed to stay at Marnie's that night, but she dozed off before they got home. She only realized he never came back this morning."

Lewis was silent. "He can't have gone far." He said; whether he actually meant it, or was just trying to be reassuring, he wasn't entirely sure himself. "And there isn't anything too dangerous in those woods – he might be a little cold and hungry, but, but…he's probably fine."

Gus studied the mayor coolly for a moment. "Right."

"We looked around the area they were playing in." Shane spoke suddenly. "Went into the woods a little. Not a peep, not a sign."

"We need to put together a search party, Lew." Gus insisted. "There's, what, twenty able-bodied folk in Pelican Town proper? If everybody drops everything and helps look, we can track the little guy down in no time flat. Even faster if we get Robin's folks and Elijah to help."

Lewis nodded slowly. They needed to get a handle on this situation immediately. He studied Gus, Shane, and Kent. "You're right. Alrighty, Gus, I'm deputizing you. We might not have any proper cops around these parts, but you might as well be one for now. Go around and deputize three, four more men, to lead some parties. I'm going to get dressed and go talk to Marnie."

"She's with Jodi, at our house." Kent informed him stiffly.

Lewis nodded. "I'll talk to you all in a bit." Closing the door, he let out a long breath. Everything was going to be alright. It had to be.

* * *

Elijah let out a heavy grunt, letting his axe fall onto yet another log. Beside him, his dog Major bounced enthusiastically at a safe distance, pouncing to grab a stick that had broken off from the log.

"You're gonna get mouth splinters, big guy." Eli cautioned the mutt. It really _was_ a big dog – some mix of a golden retriever and something big and mean, although you'd never know it. Major barked happily around the stick, not worried.

Eli looked up, scanning the field around him. It was an utter mess – how stones and logs continued to seemingly spawn from thin air in the winter was unknown to him, but it was sure as hell annoying. Now that the snow was melted, he had to clean it up all over again – the western and southern halves of the single, massive field that made up his little farm were veritable forests, choked with quick-growing trees and dense brush. How his grandfather had managed ever kept this farm pristine when he was younger, Eli would never understand.

The sun was high in the sky and Eli's stomach was beginning to growl. He'd been viciously fighting nature all morning. Major whined in response to the hungry stomach's noises, as if empathizing with it. Lodging the axe into another log for safekeeping, he bent down to pet the dog.

"Hungry, boy?" He asked, to enthusiastic tail wagging. "What'd'ya say we go into town, get a bite at the saloon and see what Em's up to?"

Major barked amicably and began bounding past some modest crops towards the farmhouse. Eli followed suit, noting how filthy and exhausted he was already – he'd definitely have to change before going into town.

"Afternoon, Eli!" Somebody called out.

Eli looked over to the entrance to the property, a stone's throw from the farmhouse. A small pack of villagers had arrived – Gus, the big, tanned barkeep; Kent, Jodi's husband, wearing the jacket from his fatigues; Harvey, the town's bespectacled doctor; and Robin, the ginger carpenter from up in the mountains. All wore startlingly grim expressions as they approached the house. Major ran out to greet them, but quickly retreated to the porch when it was clear they weren't here to play.

"What's going on guys?" Eli asked. "Who died?" He joked. Now that they were near, he noticed that they each wore a silver bottlecap with a little hole punched in it so that it could be pinned to their chest, like a badge. The smile instantly fell off his face when they didn't respond to the joke at all. Was somebody seriously dead?

"Jodi's kid is missing, Eli." Robin stated.

Eli raised an eyebrow, not sure he was hearing her correctly. "Vincent? Missing?"

"That's right." Gus confirmed. "We're going around getting people together to search for him."

Eli looked past them at a detached Kent, distant and unconcerned with him.

"When'd he go missing?" Eli asked. "I saw Sam last night while he was going to pick him up from Marnie's."

"Some time between 5pm and then." Harvey answered, adjusting his glasses and stroking his mustache, which looked woefully malnourished compared to Gus's handlebar mustache.

"Jeez." Eli crossed his arms and shook his head. "Well, I just need to shower, change, and I'll be glad to help any way I can."

Robin nodded. "Make it quick."

"Course."

Once inside, Eli decided to simply wash his hair in the sink, splashing a bit of water under his armpits and spraying himself with some body spray. He grabbed a fresh shirt and pair of jeans and threw on his favorite brown flannel shirt. Outside, Major whined incessantly at the seriousness of the visitors. Storming back outside, Eli announced that he was ready to leave.

Robin was staring off into the overgrown section of the field. "Hey, Eli…" The older woman turned to him. "do you think Vincent could've gotten lost in all that brush?"

Eli furrowed his brow. "I suppose it's possible." He conceded. "He and Jas have wandered up here a few times before…but it's not _that_ overgrown, and actually a pretty small area – I came through from the south around seven last night, and I've been working out there all morning. I definitely would've seen or heard him, I think."

Gus watched Eli carefully as he talked. "Well, keep an eye out after you get back tonight."

"Right. Of course." Eli nodded. "Uh, let's go. Should I bring Major?"

"Dog might be able to sniff him out." Harvey said. "Might as well. At the very least, he'll be good for morale."

"Alrighty." Eli whistled for Major. "We're going into town, boy."

* * *

Lewis stared down at the assembly of townspeople in the plaza from his rickety wooden platform – roughly thirty in all. They were a tiny hamlet, but they'd have to make due. The mayor remained steadfast that Vincent would be found before tomorrow morning if they all searched diligently. Jodi sat off to the side on a bench, flanked by her husband and older son, looking morosely at the ground as they both tried to comfort her. The other townsfolk had since given up on trying to console her, although Evelyn and Caroline remained nearby. Everybody was eerily silent, with only the occasional nervous, quiet chatter between them.

"They're back!"

"It's Farmer Eli!"

"Let's get on with it!"

A chorus erupted from the crowd at the four deputies returned from Elijah's farm with the man and his dog in tow, swiftly crossing the plaza. The deputies joined Lewis solemnly on the makeshift platform while Eli quietly, awkwardly merged with the throng, making his way towards Emily.

Lewis cleared his throat as the excitement calmed down. "Alrighty, now that everybody's here, let's begin." He looked down at a small notepad with pertinent details. "I'm sure by now you all know why we've gathered you all here." He braced himself. "Jodi's little boy, Vincent, is missing." Utter silence; even the birds and bugs seemed to fall quiet. "I'd like to establish a clear timeline, so that we're all on the same page. As far as we know, he was last seen yesterday evening, around 5pm. He had been playing with little Jas, and left around then, saying he needed to go home around then. Later, around 7, Sam went to pick him up from Marnie's ranch and asked Marnie to let Vincent stay the night, since we all know how inseparable those little rascals are." Uncomfortable smiles. Little Jas shrunk into herself, burying her face in her Aunt Marnie's leg. "At this time, Jas hadn't seen Vincent for at least an hour or two, and came home shortly after 7 without him. Marnie, asleep after a long day of work, didn't know Vincent hadn't returned." Marnie smiled slightly, appreciating the mayor's attempt to downplay her lapse in responsibility. "This morning, around 7am, Marnie realized that Vincent wasn't there and checked in with Jodi. They searched in the immediate area for a time, but turned up nothing. Now we're all here."

"There's _no_ sign of him?" Pierre, the bespectacled, cleanshaven shopkeeper demanded. "Kids aren't exactly careful – how can there be nothing to go on?!"

Lewis shook his head. "I don't know, Pierre. That doesn't matter right now though. The important thing is that the Cindersap Forest isn't particularly dangerous - you'd be hard pressed to find a dangerous animal even if you tried, and the river is shallow and slow moving. I'd say that there's a good chance that Vincent just got turned around in the woods."

"Now!" Gus stepped forward, holding a blue Stetson hat graciously donated by the museum curator, Gunther. "We're gong to pass Gunther's hat around – take a single slip of paper from it. It should sort everybody pretty evenly into four search parties."

Mild chatter started up again as the hat made its way around. Eli felt relief wash over him as he and Emily both held up two fingers to silently signify the group they were in. Once the hat made its way back to the stage, Robin called for order.

"Alright! Group One is with Gus – you're going to be searching the woods across the river from Marnie's ranch. I have Group Two – we'll be searching the woods around the Pond. Doc Harvey has Group Three, they're going to search the southwest, towards the cliffs. Finally, Group Four is with Kent-" Silence fell over everybody at the mention of Vincent's father. "-and you'll be searching along the beach. As soon as any of you find anything, one of you report back to Lewis and the rest keep searching."

"Any questions?" Lewis asked the crowd, only to be met with silence. "Alrighty – everybody get into your groups. Listen to your leaders. Let's bring Vincent home in time for dinner, eh?"

A chorus of affirmation rose up from the crowd as they went into a flurry trying to organize themselves.

Off to one side, Eli heard Sam's friends – the ragtag collection of teenagers on the cusp of adulthood that seemed oddly common in the village – reassure him, try to pump themselves up, talking about how Sam would get to tease Vincent about this for years. Kent drilled his group like a bunch of new army recruits - everybody was too scared and full of too much pity to complain.

* * *

Vincent wasn't back by dinnertime.

The sun was setting again, and nobody had turned up a single sign of him all day. They had scoured every inch of that forest, sometimes multiple times over. The hopeful demeanor of most of the villagers had vanished by this point. He wasn't anywhere to be found – not in the forest, on the beach, in Elijah's field...some had suggested he might have gotten confused and wandered _through_ Elijah's farm into the forest to the north, and that it would be prudent to search there tomorrow.

Everybody was too scared to say what they were truly thinking.

A little boy like that, lost in the woods for more than a day. Chances are, he either got attacked by coyotes or drowned in the river. Elijah wasn't sure he shared these thoughts as some villagers confided them in each other, far away from the earshot of the deputies or Vincent's family. Sure, things weren't looking good, but it was always important to have hope…right? At the very least, Emily was still upbeat and positive, as always.

' _Almost sickeningly so._ ' Eli thought as the two of them walked back towards the farm from town. He felt bad even thinking it, but her positivity almost seemed to be in bad taste in this situation. They held hands awkwardly – it wasn't something he particularly enjoyed, but it made Emily happy, so he indulged her. He wasn't even sure if it meant what he thought it did – Emily was just an incredibly…' _touchy'_ person to everybody. Eli glanced at her as they walked, suddenly feeling ashamed for thinking so negatively of her. Suddenly, she did the same and their eyes met. She smiled reassuringly, blue bangs falling into her eyes as she did so. Realizing that Elijah definitely wasn't feeling the same way, she dropped the smile.

"What's wrong?" She asked, suddenly very concerned.

He didn't answer at first, not even wanting to look at her as they reached the farm and started nearing the farmhouse. "What do you think?" He asked sarcastically, immediately regretting how cruel it sounded.

"I think…" She tried to choose her words carefully. "…that you're upset, just like everybody else."

He sat down heavily on the porch. Major, who had been trotting along behind them, sensed the mood and retreated to roll in the dirt further out in the field. Emily joined him on the porch and stared at him intently.

"I'm also upset…that you're _not_ upset." Eli grumbled, realizing how stupid it sounded aloud.

Emily blinked a few times. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just not the kind of person to show it."

"It just seems like bad taste, you know?" Eli suddenly had a lot to say. "Everybody else is so solemn and whispering all these awful things, and you're just chugging right along, chipper as ever."

Emily sighed. "You're right, there's lots of negative energy everywhere today. I'm just doing my best to counteract it."

"You come across as either disingenuous or an idiot." Eli insisted, stumbling slightly over the large word.

"What do you mean?"

"It seems like you're either trying too hard to convince people things will be alright, or just don't understand that they probably won't be."

Emily was silent for a long time. "Well, somebody needs to be an optimist."

"Optimism can be annoying sometimes."

"A pessimist is somebody who, when given the choice between two evils, chooses them both."

"…did you write that?"

"No."

"Oh."

Emily slid closer and wrapped an arm around Elijah, resting her head on his shoulder. "I just want everything to be alright. I'll acknowledge it isn't _when it isn't_."

They sat like that for a time, just enjoying each other's company in the cool night air. Major didn't move closer despite the change in atmosphere, choosing to continue chasing bugs and rolling in odd substances without the two humans. Eli's stomach rumbled loudly, followed very shortly by Emily's. The two giggled in tandem before falling into a fit of laughter.

"You want something to eat?" He asked. "I haven't had anything all day."

"Sure, I'd like that."

The two went into the house after failing to call Major in. After eating some haphazardly built sandwiches, the two fell asleep talking late into the night.

* * *

Elijah woke up late the next day, around ten in the morning, feeling sore all over. He found Emily gone, having left a note thanking him for the food and for talking with her. A thank you for every little thing – such was her way. Going about his morning routine despite it being nearly noon, he wondered why nobody had come to get him. Weren't they searching anymore? Maybe Vincent had been found early in the morning – maybe everything was alright after all. He couldn't think of another reason why nobody would come and get him – he knew the land, he was fit, they'd be a lot better off with him than without.

Putting on his jacket, he found another note in its pocket – Emily teasing him about always wearing the same thing, insisting that he should let her design him a new, superior jacket. He smiled fondly – he'd have to talk to her about that later. Leaving the house, Eli looked up at the overcast sky. It'd probably rain later, which meant he could likely get away with not watering the crops today. Major, whining, ran up to him and pushed insistently against the man's legs.

"What is it boy? Mad I left you outside last night?" The dog's tail was not wagging, and it looked up at him with big, sad eyes. "We tried to get you to come inside, but you never came." The dog pushed more, as if trying to herd Eli. "What, is there a search party over there? I told you that you don't need to worry about the people from town." Major took off in that direction, stopping after a hundred feet or so and looking back at Eli expectantly, one paw raised as if pointing to the southwest.

"A retriever _and_ a pointer." Eli quipped, hefting his rucksack onto his back and following.

Major soon led him to the edge of the unkept, wild part of the field. Digging in his pack for a blade to slice at the thick brush with – Eli had learned his lesson after falling into a patch of poison ivy – he found that he had nothing. Alright, he'd be roughing it today.

"What are you leading me towards, doofus?" He pondered as the dog led him further into the brush. A thought entered his mind – what if Vincent actually _was_ somewhere in there? Injured or…worse? He quickened his pace, following Major to the far southwest corner of the farm, vigilantly scanning around for anything that could possibly resemble a little boy.

Finally, Major led him to it.

Wedged between a rock and the shallow cliffside that gave the property its bowl-like shape was…something. Elijah knelt beside the object, studying it. It smelled like…crap – literally. It was some kind of carcass, definitely – maybe a dog? It definitely didn't look human, much to his relief. The thing was torn up, though, and barely identifiable. Upon closer inspection though, it didn't seem like animals did it – the cuts were…uniform, deliberate. Made with a blade, definitely. He was about to get up and leave when he finally noticed the important part.

A large tuft of red, almost magenta hair, exactly like Jodi's.

Elijah's blood froze. He felt his stomach lurch. His ears were filled with ringing and the thundering of blood.

Everything started falling into place as he made out what used to be hands or feet, deducing the shape of what just a day or two ago had been a healthy, happy little boy. He made out a single, milky violet-red eye staring into oblivion.

Vincent had always had his mother's eyes.

Elijah stood shakily and staggered backwards. He placed a hand on one of the newly growing trees for support as he felt the entire contents of his stomach surge up his throat and out of his mouth, spilling onto the ground before him.

" _Fuck!_ " Eli screamed into the air. " _What the actual fuck?!_ " Major let out a long, low noise, bowing his head. "I need to tell somebody. _Fuck_ , I need to get Gus. Or Lewis. Or – _fuck, this can't be happening_!"

He raced out of the brush, tripping over roots and rocks as he went. Spitting dirt out and hastily wiping it off his face as he ran, cursing, all the way into town without stopping, Major following close behind, barking.

Eli didn't say anything as he ran into the plaza. He stopped short of the crowd gathered there, all their eyes on him, wearing expressions of either shock or disdain. Gus asked him where he had been, why he was such a mess, but Eli didn't hear him. Breathing heavily and scanning the crowd, he made eye contact with Jodi.

Her wailing echoed across the cobble and between the buildings as she instantly gathered what was happening. The deputies and Lewis all looked at each other, realization dawning on their faces.

"I found him." Eli gasped, looking at the ground. He couldn't breathe, he could barely stand up straight – god, his head was spinning. "He was, he-he was…" The man simply looked up at Lewis and slowly shook his head.

Some started sobbing; others simply put a hand to their mouth in shock and dismay; some stoically, defiantly, shook their heads and refused to make eye contact with the others, their suspicions confirmed. Nobody spoke for a long time.

Emily pushed her way out of the throng and approached Elijah cautiously, eyes wide and, for maybe the first time ever, glassy. She looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't bring herself open her mouth.

"Lead us there!" Robin shouted over the cacophony, her own voice hoarse and uncertain, jumping down from the platform.

"Mom-" Her daughter, Maru, reached out, as if to stop her, only to get brushed aside.

"Lead us to the body, Eli."

The entire town began walking along the westward road in a sort of funeral procession; even old George rolled solemnly along in his wheelchair, not saying a word. The deputies bombarded Eli with questions, many of which he simply didn't have answers to.

"Major led me to him not fifteen minutes ago." He repeated. "I found him deep in the brush. He…" Eli glanced at Kent, who marched on, stone-faced. "…it wasn't…pretty."

He led the deputies to the spot, guided by Major. None of them spoke as they looked upon the mutilated little boy. Jodi's haunting wails floated in between the trees. Robin and Gus began cry; Harvey turned away, running his hands through his hair and shaking his head. Lewis simply stared, shocked. It was Kent who walked forward and knelt next to his son. He reached out to touch the one recognizable tuft of red hair, and suddenly clenched his fists, standing, and screaming obscenities into the air; he punched a nearby tree repeatedly until his hands were bloody and bruised. Nobody dared stop him.

Kent turned to face the others, fire burning in his eyes. He looked at Lewis. "My little boy was _murdered_ , mayor."

Lewis simply nodded slowly, silently.

"I demand that whatever _sick fuck_ did this be brought to _justice!"_

"Of course." Lewis said hoarsely.

Kent turned and pointed at Elijah. "And it's looking like the Good Farmer here is the prime suspect!"


	2. Chapter 2

Elijah staggered backwards, eyes widening in shock. "W-what? How, how could you…" He looked to Lewis. "Lewis, you gotta believe me, I just found him here. I could never…" He was going to be sick again.

"How do you figure he's guilty?" Robin demanded, stepping forward between Kent and Elijah, despite the tears still falling down her own face. The woman, for all her amiability, was quite tall and intimidating. Major growled in defense of his master, circling Eli's legs protectively.

"That isn't an accusation you can make lightly, Kent." Gus cautioned the father. "I know you're angry, you're grieving, but-"

"How many other people in the Valley have the kind of tools to, to do…." He screamed, motioning towards the corpse behind him. " …. _THAT?!_ Robin's got her axes and saws, Doc Harvey might have some knives – but only Marnie and Elijah have the big tools to do something like _that_!"

Lewis let out a long breath. "Harvey?"

"Yeah?" The doctor turned around, trying to regain his composure.

"Do you think…it'd be possible to do an autopsy?"

Harvey blanched, taking off his glasses and touching his face again. "I don't know, Lewis. An autopsy…that takes lots of special training. I'm a doctor, not a…" He glanced at Kent. "…a coroner."

"Could you figure out what the…what the killer used?"

Harvey let out his own breath. "I…I suppose I could. But I'd really rather we wait for somebody certified."

"How long do you suppose the body's been out here, Doc?"

Harvey looked over at the caricature of a carcass once again, looking like he was about to vomit too. "No way to tell like this, Lewis."

"We should…" Lewis turned around, making to start the hike back out to the field. "…we should get the body out of here, preserve it. Harvey'll do an autopsy and I'll call… _somebody_. And we'll go from there."

Gus nodded after a moment. "Alright…Eli, do you have something we could use as a-"

"I don't want him anywhere near my boy!" Kent shouted.

"Kent, please-" Lewis pleaded.

"Is that _your boy_ in the dirt, all cut up, Lewis?" The soldier roared.

The old man stepped back and looked to Eli. "Let's go, Eli."

Eli nodded nervously and began following Lewis's lead, calling for Major to do so as well. The dog took one last look at Kent before obeying.

"You believe me, right Mayor?" Eli asked once they were out of earshot.

Lewis refrained from looking at the young man. "I believe that you have a right to not have those kinds of awful accusations slung at you, just like anybody else."

"But you don't think I would actually-"

" _I don't know what to think, Elijah_." Lewis said, suddenly very stern. "We've never had a murder in Stardew Valley – _never_ , as long as I've lived here, which is a _very long time_. Much less something…like this. It's obvious that somebody killed Vincent. There are maybe three dozen people we know of who could've possibly done it. Which means that one – or more – of my trusted, beloved neighbors and citizens is a…murderer. A child murderer."

Eli nodded and swallowed hard. "This entire situation is just… _fucked_." He breathed.

"Now listen to me, Elijah." Lewis stopped walking and put a hand – surprisingly strong, for his age – on Eli's shoulder. "Is there _anything_ you want to tell me, _anything at all_ , before we get out there and face the crowd?"

Elijah's face contorted into an expression somewhere between shock and indignance. "What? No! No, no, no! Of course not! Lewis, don't tell me you-"

"I'm not ruling anything out, Elijah. Kent is at least somewhat right – you're the main suspect right now. The body was on your property, you're one of the only people in the Valley known to own big blades like it looks like the boy was..." He took a deep breath. "…attacked with. This isn't personal, you understand? It's an insane situation, and I'm considering every possibility, no matter how ridiculous it sounds."

"Of course." Eli conceded after a pause, looking at the ground. "I understand."

"Kent's going to be raising Hell about you, I guarantee it. He might turn some of the folks against you – but I won't let them hurt you, understand? If you're innocent, you'll be able to prove it and you'll have nothing to hide or fear."

"Right." Eli wondered if he looked as pale as he felt cold.

"I'm going to tell them all that it looks like bear got Vincent." Lewis said. "Prevent a panic. You won't contradict me?"

"No sir."

"Let's go."

Eli nodded, and they continued walking. Emerging into the noon sun, they came face to face with virtually the entire town camped out in Elijah's field. Some lazed in the sun, others paced nervously; none spoke. Jodi and Sam sat together off to the side, nearest the tree-line. Thirty pairs of eyes snapped instantly to Eli and Lewis, desperate for information.

"Well?" Sam demanded. Every one of the boy's muscles was tense, as if he wanted to leap up and run to them, but he stayed by his mother's side.

Lewis cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Vincent is…" He stopped short, not wanting to finish the sentence, as if it would somehow make the reality less permanent. "Vincent is no longer with us. He was at the edge of Eli's farm." His voice waivered for a second. "It looks like…like a bear attacked him." Jodi stared blankly at Lewis, as if not comprehending what he was saying. "I'm so very sorry for your loss…"

Jodi stood shakily.

"Mom?" Sam asked.

"I'm going home." Jodi declared, staring straight ahead and stiffly walking away.

"Mom!" Sam looked back at Lewis and around at the crowd before hurrying to help her on her way. The woman looked like she was going to pass out at any moment.

Hearing crashing coming from the brush behind them, Lewis and Elijah turned around. Kent and Gus held Kent's camouflage jacket at the top and bottom respectively, pulled tight to imitate a stretcher. Robin's brown vest had been thrown over the top and tied in place, mercifully obscuring any view of the corpse beneath. The two men stoically walked forward, Robin and Harvey following close behind. The crowd let out something of a collective exclamation, parting to let the pallbearers pass unimpeded. Kent broke his stone façade to leer at Elijah as he walked past, though he said nothing.

Sensing the commotion – or lack thereof – Jodi turned around as well and fixed her gaze on the stretcher. A hand went to her mouth, and her eyes welled up with tears again. Sam grabbed her arm and stared at the stretcher as well, his eyes wide in terror. The woman fell to her knees and unleashed a cry of anguish unlike anything Lewis had ever heard, a long, low wail that shattered the heart and shook one to their core. Sam fell with her and buried his face in his mother's shoulder, hugging her tightly. Kent continued walking, expressionless, understanding his duty and intent on carrying it out to completion. Lewis could only imagine how torn up he was inside, carrying what was left of his baby boy in a makeshift body bag.

Nobody dared comfort Jodi or Sam. Much of the town simply followed Kent and Gus out in a long, silent funeral procession back into town, allowing Vincent's mother and brother to follow closest behind. The deputies ushered the body into the clinic, letting only Lewis and the family follow. Nobody came out for a long time – at least two hours, Elijah thought. The entire time, the entire town sat or stood in completely silence. Only the occasional bird or the distant crashing of waves on the beach reminded Eli that time was still moving. He sat with his back against a tree, knees drawn up to his chest; beside him, Emily sat in a similar pose; her sister Haley sat next to her as well. Eli was grateful that the blonde woman wasn't talking, for once in her life. He felt bad thinking such mean things at a time like this, but…he had just stopped caring. Occasionally, Emily would look over at him in concern, but say nothing. The community-enforced silence continued until Lewis emerged from the clinic again.

By now, it beginning to sprinkle slightly. Lewis addressed the town, unfazed by the rain. "Doc Harvey is going to preform an autopsy." The mayor declared. "There's nothing any of us can do for now. I've alerted the authorities, and they'll be here in a few days. We need to…we need to let the family grieve. We need to do our own grieving. Please, go home. Find strength in one another. We're a strong community, and we'll get through this together."

* * *

Elijah tried to finish his work, despite the rain, which had quickly turned into a downpour. He chopped wood, he broke up rocks, he searched for his scythe, he did anything he possibly could to keep his mind from everything. Kent thought that he killed Vincent – how did somebody even respond to something like that? Major whined from the relative dryness of the porch, watching his master work incessantly. Eli worked until he didn't think he could anymore, with the sun just beginning to dip beneath the horizon. Exhausted, he went back into the house and changed into dry clothes. Salvaging a meal from what little remained in his refrigerator, he sat down in from of his old CRT television and tried to watch something mind-numbing, but quickly found that he couldn't even focus on nothing. Major whined some more as Eli moved from the chair and laid down in bed.

Sprawled out on the bed, he stared at the farmhouse's rickety old rafters for a time, listening to the rain drumming on the roof and tapping on the windows. Though it was early, he tried to sleep, trying to extract some comfort from Major's wagging tail at the foot of the bed and the warmth of the blankets.

Whenever he closed his eyes though, he found it even less bearable than keeping them open. It was just inky blackness at first – good enough, something he could contend with. Then, however, there was a noise that seemed like he started in the distance and gradually grew louder, until he could identify it as endless, shrill screaming. Colors began dancing in the void, taking various abstract forms before finally turning into a single violet eye staring blankly at him from the bottom of some impossible pit, filling him with despair and terror. After trying several times, with lengthy sessions of nervous pacing in-between, he determined that even sleep was impossible.

"Stay here, boy." He commanded Major, throwing on a raincoat and hat and storming outside into the deluge. Eli didn't want to be alone with his thoughts right now – he _couldn't_ be.

He walked into town, finding it utterly deserted. All the businesses were, as expected, closed, and the curtains or blinds were drawn in nearly every window. Trudging through the practically flooded central plaza, he struggled to reach his destination, giving Kent's home as wide a berth as he could in the process.

He knocked weakly a few times on Emily's door. Haley answered and, seeing the state of the man, who more-so resembled a drowned rat, immediately welcomed him inside, calling for Emily to come out of her room.

"Yoba, why did you come all this way in the rain?" Haley asked incredulously, taking his dripping raincoat from him, and going to hang it up somewhere. He just stared dully back, looking between her and Emily as she emerged into the living room and made a similar exclamation. "I…uh…" He intelligently struggled to form a complete sentence, all his strength and volition sapped by a combination of the rain, exhaustion, and a peculiar sense of malaise. The two women stared quizzically at him, awaiting an answer. Finally, Eli just broke.

He slumped against the wall. Emily dove to grab him, afraid he might collapse entirely. "I just didn't want to be alone." He said quietly, sliding to the floor, voice quivering and body trembling. "Yoba, the _fucking eye_ …"

Emily looked at him ruefully and sat down beside him, draping an arm over his shoulder. She glanced helplessly at her sister.

"I'll get you a towel." Haley said. "…and make some tea."

"I'm sorry…" Eli said through long, careful breaths.

"You know," Emily replied gently, "the world would be a much better place if people said 'thank you' in place of 'I'm sorry' more often."

He tried to hide the tears now beginning to roll down his face. "…thank you."

* * *

Harvey stared at the body, completely at a loss.

Lewis hadn't technically been lying when he had said it looked like a bear had attacked Vincent. The body had been torn to shreds and bent at obscene angles, barely recognizable as human unless you studied it closely.

A portion of the patient area of the clinic had been rearranged and turned into a makeshift operating room. Harvey's clinic wasn't equipped for this sort of thing, not by a longshot, so he was trying to make due with what he had.

Maru stood beside him, dressed in her scrubs, and looking as if she was about to be sick. The young woman wasn't even a nurse – an orderly, at best. Still, Robin's daughter insisted that she'd be here to help Harvey with whatever he needed, despite his assurances that this went far, _far_ beyond what he paid her for. Her job was manning the front desk and delivering pills to patients, not…dissecting dead kids.

Gus and Robin were in the room as well, in makeshift scrubs themselves, prepared to help in whatever way they could. Lewis sat with the family on the other side of a curtain, trying his best to console them and distract them from what was happening on the other side. Kent had flown into one of his rages earlier already, wrecking the front waiting area in the process.

"So, what's first Doc?" Gus asked.

"Well…" Harvey wracked his brain. "I don't think we need to cut the boy up any more. We can all agree on the cause of death – it doesn't matter if it was before or after the cutting."

"It might matter to them." Robin stated lowly.

"We don't have the tools to determine most of that here. The best we can do is take pictures and preserve samples."

Robin offered only a curt nod in response.

"So, what do we do?" Gus asked.

"Step one is determining what kind of blade was used. That should give us some clue about…" Harvey trailed off.

"So how do we do that?" Gus demanded.

"Well, what kind of blades are there in the Valley?" Harvey looked around. "We've got axes, saws, knives, and on. The way I see it, each kind has a distinct way you use and…and cut with it. If we can figure out how the…body…. was cut, it'll tell us what kind of blade was used."

Harvey manipulated a ribbon of flesh for a moment, as if trying to return it to its original shape. The cadaver had been significantly altered since being relocated from the farm – an unavoidable result of physically moving it.

"See the way it's a clean cut for most of the way, then it suddenly gets messy?" Harvey asked nobody in particularly, tracing the path of a cut with a gloved finger.

"Like it got stuck and had to be pulled out." Robin said. "Plenty of blades get stuck in stuff."

"It's the sheer cleanliness of the initial cuts that's getting me – like a hot knife through butter." Harvey mused. Maru blanched and shifted uncomfortably. As if noticing her again for the first time, Harvey motioned with his other hand towards a smartphone sitting on a nearby table, futilely "sterilized" by having a clean white cloth draped over it. "Take pictures, Maru. We need to preserve as much evidence as we can."

With an uncertain glance at her mother, Maru began taking pictures with the phone to the best of her ability, dealing with the poor lighting and awkward angles, wherever Harvey pointed, trying to piece together the doctor's reasoning as she went and holding back the bile slowly churning at the back of her throat.

Eventually, his desire for photographs was sated, and Harvey began gingerly removing bits of tissue, hair, and fluids from the cadaver and placing them in whatever appropriate, sterile containers they had on hand. It was no longer "Vincent", but a body to be preserved and investigated.

"He was out there for a day at least…" Harvey mused. "It's impossible to tell if this discoloration is from trauma or decomposition."

"You think there might have been a struggle?" Robin asked.

"It's definitely possible, but like I said…no way of knowing for us. I feel like a lot of our questions will be answered when the actual authorities get here. We just need to be sure to preserve the cadaver well enough for them."

Harvey's hand hovered over an orifice that took a moment to identify. "It doesn't look like he went through any…" He took a moment, trying in vain to find a polite way to say it. "…sexual trauma."

"You can tell just be looking?" Gus asked, disgusted yet at the same time curious.

"There'd be signs." Harvey assured him.

"Great, so at least it's _just_ a child murderer, and not a rapist too…" Gus mumbled under his breath.

Harvey stopped moving at the utterance of the word 'murderer', the reality of the situation suddenly crashing over him. "Yoba, this is really happening, isn't it?" He asked, looking up at Gus and Robin.

"It is." Robin heaved a sigh and stared down at the little boy.

"There is no armor against fate." Harvey said suddenly. "Death lays his icy hand on kings. Scepter and crown must tumble down, and, in the dust, be equal made…" He backed away from the table. "With the poor crooked scythe and spade…"

"What the hell was that?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"James Shirley." Maru stated, before Harvey could speak. "A poem: Death the Leveller."

"Right." Harvey confirmed. "Doesn't matter if you're a serf, a king, a doctor, or a little kid."

"Death comes for you anyway." Robin finished the thought, disgust in her voice. Gus mouthed something under his breath. "What was that?" Robin asked.

"Crooked scythe and spade…" Gus repeated, just loud enough now to be audible. "A scythe – the killer used a scythe."

Harvey looked around at the two women, as if seeking a second opinion on the theory. "What makes you say that?"

"A clean swing and a messy yank out. A person isn't like grass." Gus's knuckles were white from gripping the edge of the table. "They have all sorts of messy shit inside, of all different consistencies."

"Sure." Robin concurred, suddenly animated. "If the kid was knocked down, the, the killer could've just kept swinging – goes in easy, hits a bone or loses momentum or something and needs to be yanked out." Robin's hand suddenly went to her mouth, as if she couldn't believe she had said something like that so casually. "An axe or saw would be much messier going in." She spoke through her fingers.

"And knife wounds wouldn't be so straight." Maru jumped aboard. "They'd either be stabs in one place, or jagged."

The quartet all looked back and forth at one another.

"Lewis?" Gus called out beyond the curtain.

"Yes?" The old man responded uncertainly.

"Who do we know that owns a scythe?"


	3. Chapter 3

The screaming wouldn't stop; it burrowed its way into Elijah's ears and lodged itself deep within his mind. Another swing, another sickening thump, the wet suctioning of the blade being removed from yet another gaping wound. Elijah swung the axe over and over again, thinking that eventually if he did it enough, the screaming would just stop. More warm, red liquid splashed onto his hands, his jeans. There was nothing around him but darkness. No color but crimson blood and a single violet eye staring up at him in terror and betrayal. It didn't faze him. He just kept chopping, slashing, slicing; he didn't know why he was doing, just that he _was_ and that it was too late to stop now. He would keep going until there was nothing left to destroy, and then—

Elijah's eyes shot open. He was freezing and drenched in sweat. Emily's face hovered above him, eyes full of worry and concern. She stroked his hair softly with one hand as he began to get his bearings and come to his senses, holding his hand with her other one.

"You're awake." She told him. "Don't worry, you're okay." Elijah squinted at her. "You were having a nightmare." Emily explained. His head was in her lap; she sat with her back against her headboard, cross-legged. "So, I…" Her face started to turn red. "…tried to comfort you."

Elijah remembered the events of the previous night; how he showed up on their doorstep and broke down, bearing his soul to them; talking about the body, the nightmares keeping him from even closing his eyes for too long, the sick pit in his stomach that just wouldn't go away. He supposed the exhaustion took over eventually and he passed out.

After a minute of simply looking up at the woman, Elijah moved to get up and sit across from her on the bed. "Thank you." He grabbed her hand. "Seriously, Emily. Thank you."

She beamed at him. "Don't mention it, really. It's what friends are for, right?"

Friends. "This is all…far beyond what a normal friend would do." Emily tilted her head to the side and looked at him curiously; she knew exactly what she was doing, Elijah thought. He let out a weak chuckle. "Emily – you're fucking _extraordinary_." The blue haired girl blushed more deeply and looked away for a moment.

"Thanks." She replied. Turning back to him, she was concerned again. "You're okay now?"

"I think so." Elijah said. "Last night was just…" He struggled for a word. "…overwhelming." He considered telling her about this latest nightmare, but decided it was not the right time.

"I can only imagine." She clasped a hand over his. "Nobody should have to see those kinds of awful things…be accused of something like that without evidence." Eli was momentarily taken aback. How had she heard that Kent was accusing him? She must have seen the confusion on his face, because she quickly explained. "Kent has been storming around town all day, saying you're responsible. Trying to get together a posse or something."

"A posse?" Elijah repeated the word. "For what."

She didn't answer. "Eli, no matter what happens, just know that I trust you, okay?"

He nodded slowly. "Thanks. That means…a lot more than I could tell you."

"You're a good person. Kind. Lots of positive energy. You just don't express it much."

They sat like that for a time, simply staring into each other's eyes without speaking. There was something comforting about it, therapeutic even. Their contentment was suddenly broken by Haley barging into Emily's room, throwing the door open and exclaiming something neither Emily nor Elijah could make out. The blonde woman stopped mid-stride and just gave them a puzzled look.

"What's…going on?" She asked uncertainly, eyes shifting between her sister an Elijah.

"Uh…" Elijah stammered intelligently.

"You see-" Emily began.

" _SOMethING fUCKiNG eXTraOrdinARY!"_ The parrot by Emily's window shrieked, swiftly reminding them all of its presence. It had been strangely silent during their entire conversation. All three descended into a sudden fit of laughter at the parrot's absurdity while the bird simply looked around at them in bewilderment and, quite possibly, anger.

Once they all recovered, Haley grew serious. "We need to get Eli out of here." She stated. She walked over to the window beside the parrot and peaked out the curtains. "Kent…isn't listening to the mayor. He's telling everybody that, that Eli did it. They went looking for him this morning but couldn't find him on the farm. Apparently, turned the whole farm upside-down and couldn't find his scythe."

The sudden change in atmosphere brought back the same icy, creeping dread from last night to Elijah. "Scythe? Why is the scythe important?"

"Kent told everybody that it wasn't a bear, and that Doctor Harvey says the Killer used a scythe. You're the only person in town known to own and use one, but it's missing." Haley's tone seemed almost foreign to Elijah – he wasn't aware that she could act so seriously; however, he supposed that he also didn't realize Emily could be so…deep? Profound? Both sisters were surprising him a lot of ways recently – most of all by how well they cooperated when the situation demanded it.

"Then he's being framed." Emily insisted indignantly, as if she herself was being accused.

"Hey, I trust him." Haley threw up her hands. "We might not get along, sis, but you're usually a way better judge of character than me." She conceded. Emily blinked a few times. "Besides…" Haley continued. "…if he makes you happy, he's fine by me." She said this last part with a bit of dismay, as if she hated admitting it.

Elijah slowly withdrew his hands from Emily's. "So, what should we do?"

"Kent has everybody in the plaza, arguing over what to do, insisting you probably skipped town." Haley began unloading information. "I've been out all morning trying to figure out what people are thinking – test the waters, y'know?"

"And?"

Haley placed her hands on her hips. "The Mayor and the Deputies are all trying to keep people calm. Everybody's arguing about 'innocent until proven guilty' and if the lack of evidence is actually evidence." She lowered her gaze. "They've noticed that Emily's not there; some people are saying you two ran away together, even though I keep telling them you're sick in bed from the rain."

"Ran away together?" Elijah repeated. "Why would they think-"

"Oh, come on, everybody knows that you two are a _thing_." Haley scoffed. "I don't get why you keep acting like you aren't when other people are around." Emily and Elijah glanced at one another nervously, but said nothing. "Anyways, the way I see it, we have two options: Eli actually skips town, or we go out there and confront everybody."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere without a boat." Eli sighed. "Besides, that'd just suggest I'm guilty, right?" He shrugged, palms held out. "I don't have anything to hide. I mean, I have an alibi." He motioned at Emily. "That means I'll be fine, right?"

"It _should_ …" Emily said.

"But people can be idiots." Haley finished the thought.

"You may have been here for a year already, but you're still a newcomer compared to pretty much everyone else." Emily explained. "A lot of people don't really trust you."

"Some just plain don't like you and might want you gone." Haley added.

"I never got that impression." Eli muttered, wounded.

"Yeah, well these little communities aren't always so perfect." Haley mused, heaving a sigh herself. "When you have so few people living so close together…" She raised a hand and toyed with her hair. "…gossip and cliques are super common."

"Right…" Elijah swallowed. "So, I just have to go out there and hope Lewis can keep people in line."

"Looks like it." Emily confirmed, moving away from Elijah, and standing up, stretching her legs.

"If it makes you feel any better," Haley chimed, "Robin is definitely on your side. She's been defending you all morning. Gus isn't being very vocal, but I don't think he believes you did anything wrong."

"What about Harvey?" Elijah inquired.

"Not sure about him; he's been pretty quiet. Only talking when people ask about the…about Vincent."

Elijah nodded. "Well, that's something."

"So far only a few people have actually said they're taking Kent's side." Haley continued, trying to reassure the man. "Clint and Caroline, mostly. Alex too, but he's shakier."

"Clint?" Emily asked, scrunching up her face in disbelief. "I wouldn't expect him to take a strong stance like that."

Haley shrugged. "People act weird in weird situations."

"True." Emily agreed, somewhat surprised by the weirdly astute observation from her sister.

"Pretty much everyone else is either saying we should wait 'til the cops get here to do anything, or insisting that you're innocent." Haley continued her exposition. "Robin and Marnie are being the most vocal; George too, when he talks."

Elijah smiled, emboldened by the support of his friends. "Alright…" He hauled himself to his feet. "I suppose I should go."

The sisters looked at each other, then back at Elijah. "Not like that, you aren't." Haley said with disgust that was only partially teasing. "You smell."

"Agreed. You're a mess." Emily concurred, smiling.

"Uh…okay." Elijah blurted. "Can I use your shower then?"

"We'll do you one better." Emily patted him on the shoulder, positively beaming now. "Go wash up."

Elijah made his way to the bathroom, now confused and slightly suspicious – of what, he wasn't sure. Navigating the girls' bathroom, he made it quick. Being careful to avoid contact with the mysterious eldritch undergarments hanging beside the bathtub, he undressed, turned on the shower and stepped in, puzzling over what specific bottle of the myriad of shampoos, conditioners, soaps, and various 'natural' substances, to use.

"Use the diluted honey for hair! Gold bottle!" Emily's voice floated in from beyond the curtain, followed by a giggle as she retreated. Elijah had no clue how long she had been there, or how she had deduced his dilemma through the opaque curtain. He did as he was told and blindly chose a kind of soap, quickly finishing up. He smirked at the scenario, feeling like an awkward high schooler again despite the decidedly serious greater situation he found himself in.

Once out of the shower, he discovered that his clothes had been spirited away, replaced by an entirely new outfit. He didn't understand the choice of colors – an earthen mixture of browns, greens, and blues – but went along with it anyway after drying his hair. At the bottom of the pile was a new brown jacket with a green lower half. Sitting gingerly beside the clothes was a brown cloth hat with a wide brim, one side of which was pinned to the side by a golden star pin. He grinned at himself in the mirror, fancying himself a regular old cowboy.

Exiting the bathroom, he found the sisters standing side by side, looking very proud of themselves.

"I told you it'd turn out alright." Emily cajoled her sister. "I got the measurements just right."

"Well, I'm just glad the colors worked out." Haley scoffed, dismissively tossing her hair over her shoulder. "The brown brings out the green in his eyes."

Emily fussily adjusted the collar of the jacket. "We were going to wait for your birthday this summer…" She began.

"…but we decided now was as good a time as any." Haley finished. "You gotta look good for the people."

Elijah found himself moved; this was quite possibly one of the nicest things anybody had ever done for him. "You know it'll just get dirty and torn if I wear it around."

"Outfits are made to be worn." Emily assured him.

"We wanted it to be an introduction to the beautiful world of fashion." Haley explained. "Figured that you'd realize looking great is fun, start diversifying your wardrobe on your own."

Elijah was amazed yet again at the synchronicity between the sisters when they tried. "Thank you, guys, again. Seriously, for everything, I-"

"You can buy us dinner later." Emily teased. "Right now, we need to get you out there to defend yourself."

"Right. Right." Elijah tried to steel himself, cracking his neck. "Everybody's gathered in the plaza, you said?" The girls suddenly flanked him, guiding him towards the door.

"Yep." Haley nodded.

"You go first," Emily insisted. "We'll sneak out in a bit to join the crowd."

"Remember, appeal to Robin, Marnie, and George. Pretty much everybody knows and respects them, and they're on your side"

"Right."

Emily place her hands on his shoulders and just looked at him for a bit, before surprising him by planting a quick kiss on his lips. "For luck." She simpered.

"This whole situation's fucked." Haley told him, putting a hand on his back. "We just need to make the best of it."

With that, she shoved him unceremoniously out the door.

* * *

Adjusting his hat, Elijah's eyes adapted to the bright sunlight. He cracked his neck a few times and took several deep breaths. Standing out in front of Emily's house like this, just like he was on the night that Vincent went missing…it made him uneasy for some reason.

He clenched his jaw and tried to stand up straight, confidently turning around the corner and walking down the street towards the central plaza. As soon as he spotted the throng gathered there, the wind immediately began to leave his sails. There was some sort of animated debate happening, with voices occasionally rising and carrying down to him. Kent stood defiantly on the platform alongside his family, Lewis, and the deputies – who all variously sat on assorted chests and bags - arms crossed as he listened unhappily to whatever was being said. Elijah felt guilt wash over him upon seeing the soldier – Kent was a father who had just lost his son in an awful way, and wasn't exactly the shining picture of mental health to begin with. He wasn't some villain out to get Elijah – he was just angry, probably scared; just like everyone else in town. It was easy for Elijah to forget, while he was being bombarded with these accusations, that Vincent was dead – it was a tragedy, and he couldn't expect people to react rationally at a time like this.

He began to come into range of the discussion; everybody was turned away, facing somebody at the other edge of the crowd. George, it sounded like.

"I remember back when the War started," He lectured. "they rounded up anybody who wasn't parading in the streets or buying bonds. Some of 'em got shot by vigilantes. Others got arrested. They were a Fifth Column, a threat to the Republic, the government said."

"What's your point?" Kent demanded.

" _My point_ ," George spat, quite literally, in the direction of the stage. "is that I didn't fight for Ferngill - storm the beaches at Alazo and slog through jungles in Gorat - just to see Her values thrown out the window when things get bad!" The old man was positively animated, much more-so than Elijah had ever heard him. " _Liberty, equality, justice!_ " George shouted. "Or is that not why we're fighting in Gotoro?" Kent leered down at the old man; the last comment was clearly a jab at him.

Before he could retort, Kent's head snapped towards Elijah as the farmer neared the throng. "The Good Farmer Elijah!" Kent exclaimed mockingly. "Joining us at last!"

The entre town turned to stare at Elijah. He tried to weather their gazes, remain confident, but found them all much more intimidating than expected. Most of them didn't look angry – just sad, or piteous. A few wore stoic, indifferent expressions. Somewhere inside the crowd, the tops of a blue-haired head bobbed – the sisters had successfully merged with the throng.

"Where've you been all day, Elijah?" Kent demanded. "We thought you had run off before the cops could get here."

"Enough, Kent!" Robin growled, physically holding up a hand to him. "Let the guy come up here and defend himself!"

"What's there to defend?" Kent railed. "The murder weapon is missing!"

"We don't know that it was the murder weapon!" Robin roared back. She turned back towards the farmer. "Get up here, Elijah!" She commanded.

Elijah obeyed, scrambling up onto the stage and standing beside Robin. It was even worse up here, in absolute full view of everybody. He found that he was totally unsure what to do with his hands, so he settled for shoving them in his pockets. Elijah felt sick again. This wasn't just a town meeting – it was his trial. He was sure of it.

"Elijah." Gus began, putting a meaty hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Let's start with something simple, to set the record straight: where were you on Wednesday night, between 5 and 7 P.M.?" He spoke loudly so that everybody could hear, bellowing in Eli's ear.

Elijah scanned the crowd and gulped; he raised his voice, attempting to match Gus's volume. "I was at Emily and Hailey's house." He proclaimed. "From about 6 to 7."

"And what were you doing there?" Somebody jeered from the crowd. Elijah squinted down, making out the bearded face of Clint glaring up at him from towards the front.

"Why does that matter?" Haley exclaimed, pushing her way to the front as well, with Emily in tow. "We can confirm that he was there the entire time he says he was."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Clint demanded, directing his leer at the blonde woman now beside him.

"Why would we ever lie?" Emily demanded. "Friends don't lie, Clint."

Clint's expression softened slightly at Emily's statement, but still he proceeded, albeit more waveringly than before. "Well, we all know how close you are." The blacksmith sputtered. "I don't think you're a trustworthy alibi – plenty of people would lie just save their…uh, their friend's skin."

"Clint is right." Caroline huffed. Pierre shuffled uncomfortably next to her, eyes darting around as if he wanted to agree but didn't have the wherewithal to. A few other heads nodded along in agreement. "He needs an alibi that isn't inclined to lie for him."

Kent looked back expectantly towards Elijah, leading the crowd to do the same. He wracked his brain, trying to remember what all he was doing that day.

"For what it's worth…" Penny raised her hand high above her head, as if in a classroom, but struggled to raise her voice high enough to be heard by everyone. "…he was with me from about 4 to until about 4:30, maybe 4:45." Before she could be asked what they were doing, Penny curtly added: "We were talking about a book he was borrowing from me."

"She's telling the truth." George called out. "I saw the kid go into the trailer at about 4, looking out my window."

"Plenty of time to go out to the woods." Kent insisted. "Even _if_ we believe Emily, there's still a whole hour where he's unaccounted for, right about the time Jas says Vincent went missing."

"You're grasping at straws, Kent." Robin warned. "It'd take him, what, thirty minutes to get there and back, at least?" The redhead looked to Elijah. "What were you doing for that hour, Eli?"

"He was with me." Emily announced. "He dropped into the saloon while I was working, to talk.

"That's right." Gus nodded before anybody could ask him, as owner, for confirmation. "Can't say when he came in, but he was there at about 6 when I let Emily off early."

"And after that, we, uh, went to her house." Elijah finished the timeline.

"So," Kent asked. "can anybody besides the Sisters confirm that he was at their house for that hour?

Clint raised a hand in objection. "I think I can confirm that he _wasn't_." He spoke hurriedly. Whispers rippled through the crowd. Emily and Haley gaped at him incredulously. "I was sitting by the river, under that big tree, doing some fishing, around 6, and I never saw anybody leave or go into the house."

" _You_ fish?" Willy cackled. The old fisherman's grin revealed a set of yellowed, rotten teeth that made everybody uncomfortable.

"I'm trying to pick up new hobbies!" Clint whined.

"Why didn't you bring that up earlier?" Marnie, who had been largely silent up until now, demanded.

"I wanted to see where this line of questioning went." Clint crossed his arms.

Gus stepped forward. "Clint, I've had enough of your _bullshit_!" The barkeep bellowed. "You weren't fishing, you were moping in the bathroom of the saloon because of your creepy crush on Emily! I realize men's hearts make 'em do strange things, but think about what you're doing here! A man's life might be at stake!"

Clint's eyes widened, and he turned a shade of deep red. He looked around in dismay. "I-I didn't, I mean, you can't—" His voice was getting high and croaky now. Finally, words escaping him, the blacksmith simply hung his head in shame and retreated through the crowd, choosing to observe from the rear.

Elijah stared at the man in disbelief, as did many others; only Emily's expression outdid his as she digested this information, linking hands with her sister, as if for support.

Kent glowered around at the crowd. "Alright, 4 to 7pm, he has alibis." The father relented. "Where were you after 7?"

"I went home after leaving Em's place." Elijah stated, much more confident now.

"What way did you take?"

"The southern road."

"Why?"

"Quicker than circling around through town."

"Even though you have to slog through all that brush in the southern part of your farm?"

"I have a little path cleared. Not much, but better than nothing."

"So that would've brought you up around where Jas and Vincent had been playing."

Elijah hesitated. "I suppose so. The pond's only a bit of a walk from the southern entrance."

"So, you could've gone into the woods and found Vincent."

"I guess?" Elijah admitted uncertainly. "But I never saw him _or_ Jas, and I went straight home."

"How do we know you did?" Kent demanded.

"I-"

"Do you have an alibi for then? Do you want to use your _dog_ as a witness?"

"Listen, I-"

"Just admit, at the _very least_ -" Kent started to howl.

"Dad, shut up!" Sam shouted from his seat next to his mother. Jodi remained silent, staring blankly at the ground. "I'm Eli's stupid fucking alibi!" He declared. "He walked with me all the way to Marnie's, I saw him go down the path to his farm."

Kent looked between Elijah and his son for a moment before surrendering the point. "Then let's talk about where you were the next morning." He steamed onward.

"For fuck's sake, Kent!" Robin complained, exasperated.

" _Excuse me_ , Robin!" Kent suddenly advanced on the woman. Both Gus and Demetrius, in the crowd below, took several steps in her direction, afraid of what Kent might do. Kent got right into the carpenter's face. "If _your_ little _girl_ was cut up in a field, wouldn't you do _everything you could_ to catch the freak that did it?!" Robin did not back down, but she didn't speak either, simply staring at Kent with a vexed expression on her face. Kent stepped back and turned back to the crowd.

"Let's look at the evidence." He extolled the townsfolk. "The murder weapon, according to the Good Doctor, was a scythe. The only two people who own scythes in this town are Marnie and Elijah. Marnie's got Leah, Sam, and Elliott as firm alibis for the times in question; Elijah has his girlfriend for sure, and some rough estimates from others. Plus, _his only scythe is missing_." He turned back to Elijah. "Do you lock your tool shed, Elijah?"

"Yes, I do." Elijah confirmed, wary of where this might be going.

"Do you take care of your tools?"

"Of course."

"What do you do with the tools after you're done with the day's work?"

"Depends." Elijah's mind was racing, but he tried to keep his voice level and confident. "Sometimes I leave 'em leaning against the shed or house. I usually have them in the shed by dark, though."

"So, what happened to the scythe?"

Elijah didn't have an answer. He didn't remember losing the scythe. "I…I don't know."

"And let's talk about the morning after the first day of searching. Where were you?"

"Asleep."

"Tii ten?"

"I was exhausted. From all the farm work, on top of searching." He leveled his gaze at Kent from beneath his new hat. "What was everybody else doing? Why didn't anybody come get me? I would've been glad to help more."

"Linus thought he heard Vincent in the mountains, up north," Robin said. The old homeless man was, noticeably, absent from the gathering. "so, we spent all morning searching the area. Nobody thought to go get you."

"So, there was plenty of time for you to do something with the body." Kent growled bluntly.

Elijah was caught off guard. "I was sleeping all morning." He replied.

"I was with him until about 8 A.M.!" Emily called out from the below. Then, a bit more sheepishly. "I stayed the night. He was still asleep when I left."

"Two hours is plenty to move that little body." Alex said suddenly, almost too quietly for everybody to hear.

"Alex!" Evelyn was taken aback.

"What if he ran into Vincent the night he went missing? What if the kid went exploring up by the farm alone?"

"Vince _did_ love exploring by himself." Kent nodded somberly. "Always thought Jas would just get in the way because she was a girl." The little girl was also not present.

"So, Eli lures Vince back to the farm after saying goodbye to Sam." Sebastian began working towards Alex's confusion, standing beside him. Maru shot her brother an incredulous look, as did their mother. "And…" He shook his head lightly. "Locks him up somewhere? Kills him right away?"

"I don't like how we're pre-supposing guilt here, people!" Gus warned everybody. "Stop talking like it's a foregone conclusion!"

Elliott was nodding along with Sebastian from the other side of the crowd. "It makes sense – this scenario would him plenty of time the night before the search! Then, Friday morning, after Emily leaves, he brings the body out and makes it look like he found Vincent in the field."

"It all fits together!" Pam's shrill voice exclaimed. Penny shuffled to the side, trying to put distance between her and her mother.

Caroline joined in. "Two hours was probably just enough time to move the body and get rid of the scythe! It's probably buried in the forest or at the bottom of the river somewhere!"

" _Shit_." Robin hissed, taking a few quick steps sideways towards Lewis. The mayor had been utterly silent the entire time, simply observing the entire situation unfolding before his old, wise eyes. "We're losing control here." She cautioned the mayor. Lewis glanced in her direction and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Listen, I-I don't know what to say!" Elijah cried out, taking off his hat and holding it over his chest. Behind him, Robin quietly moved towards one of the many bags atop the stage. "I didn't hurt _anybody_! I hadn't seen Vincent since Tuesday! I-"

"Look at him!" Pam shrieked. "There's guilt written all over the stupid kid's face!"

Penny looked at her feet. "He does look kind of guilty…" She said in quiet agreement with her mother.

"I say we lock him up!" Alex shouted, raising a fist. "Stick him in the old Community Center or something, just until the cops show up!"

"We should do a lot more than that!" Pam spat.

A frightening number of people began too nod, echoing Alex's sentiment. The man's grandparents were aghast, protesting the idea. Elijah's head swam; his entire world was crumbling all over again. At least half the town was talking about punishing him for a crime – something utterly heinous – that he never committed.

"Please, I-" Elijah pleaded futilely.

Kent lunged towards him and grabbed the younger, smaller man the collar of his new jacket. "Let's lock up the man who killed my little boy!" Sam stood, moving to join him.

An earsplitting blast came from behind Elijah, causing his ears to ring horribly. Craning his neck around, he saw Robin standing there with a shotgun in hand; she had just fired a warning shot harmlessly into the floor of the stage.

" _Nobody. Is. Doing. Anything_." She asserted, enunciating each word very slowly, very loudly.

"Yoba's tits, woman!" Pierre exclaimed. "What are you doing with that thing?"

"Making sure none of us do anything we regret." Robin said coolly. She walked towards Elijah and yanked him out of Kent's grip. The soldier took a few steps back, throwing his hands up warily. The carpenter grabbed the farmer by the arm. "We're going to go back to your farm, grab whatever clothes or stuff you need." She said quietly, eyeing Kent the entire time.

"Then what?" Elijah asked, utterly terrified at this point.

"You're staying with us for a while. I don't know what's going on here…" Both pairs of green eyes met. "…but these people aren't going to stop until they have your head on a spike."


End file.
